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Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company applying proprietary technologies to produce novel anti-infectives and immunotherapies for infectious diseases, announced that it is now actively enrolling patients in a global pivotal study of Aerucin®, the Company’s broadly reactive monoclonal antibody being developed to treat acute pneumonia caused by Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

“We are excited to advance the development of Aerucin into a pivotal clinical trial” stated Vu Truong, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Aridis. “This study evaluates the potential therapeutic benefits of our anti-P. aeruginosa antibody Aerucin® as an adjunctive therapy in combination with antibiotics in critically ill pneumonia patients. Propelled by positive safety data in humans and preclinical evidence that Aerucin is effective against a broad range of P. aeruginosa clinical isolates – including antibiotic-resistant strains, we look forward to evaluating its ability to improve clinical outcomes compared to standard of care antibiotics alone in a diverse, global patient population. We expect to complete the study in the second half of 2018.”

Aerucin is a fully human monoclonal IgG1 antibody that binds to alginate, a cell surface polysaccharide that is widely distributed on P. aeruginosa. Once bound, Aerucin improves recognition and destruction by the immune system through enhanced complement deposition. Aerucin has proven effective in promoting phagocytic killing of a wide range of both mucoid and non-mucoid P. aeruginosa clinical isolates, including antibiotic-resistant strains from pneumonia and cystic fibrosis patients. In an animal model of acute pneumonia, Aerucin protected mice from lethal P. aeruginosa challenges at doses as low as 0.004 mg/kg. It also protected animals against eye infections in a keratitis model and sepsis in a systemic infection model. These studies support both therapeutic and prophylactic uses of Aerucin against a broad range of P. aeruginosa infections.